I read somewhere on this website that if Battle for Zendikar had adhered more to the adventure world tropes that made Zendikar a success, it would have been a better set. So now I'm curious: what would you have done differently to make BFZ a better set.
For example, my takeaway was that BFZ would have benefitted from having more random legendary creatures, like original Zendikar, so I designed a few legendary creatures that seemed like they would be fun to play with (the names come from flavor text in original Zendikar). I don't have much so far so I'd love to see what designs other people have for this idea.
Valakut Flamekeepers3RR
Legendary Creature - Human Shaman {R}
If another red source you control would deal damage to a permanent or player, you may discard a card. If you do, it deals that much damage plus 3 to that permanent or player instead.
3/4
Sole SurvivorUB
Legendary Creature - Kor Warrior {R}
As long as you control exactly one creature, that creature gets +2/+0 and can't be blocked.
2/2
Nirthu, Lone Missionary3G
Legendary Creature - Elf Shaman {R}
Whenever one or more +1/+1 counters are put on a creature you control, look at the top card of your library. If it's a land card, you may put it onto the battlefield.
3/3
Yon Basrel, Minotaur PathfinderRR
Legendary Creature - Minotaur Advisor {R}
Haste
Whenever Minotaur Pathfinder attacks, defending player reveals the top card of his or her library. If it's a land card, that player puts it into his or her hand.
3/3
Sheyda, Bringer of Flames2RR
Legendary Creature - Elemental {R}
When Sandruu, Bringer of Flames enters the battlefield, it deals X damage to target creature or player, where X is the number of instant and sorcery cards in your graveyard.
2/2
Samila of the ExpeditionGG
Legendary Creature - Elf Scout {R}
If you would search your library for a land card, instead search your library for a land card and an additional card that shares a type with it, then put them both into your hand. Then shuffle your library.
2/2
I really like Sole Survivor as a design. Clean and simple yet still unique. Strong but not broken.
Sheyda, Bringer of Flames seems too strong to be printed in a Standard set. If this were to printed I would imagine them saying "deals X damage to target creature or planeswalker" or at least at the bare minimum it should have more red mana in the casting cost.
Since Sheyda isn't a strong card without having a deck built around it, it seems like it could see print. That being said, I took your advice and made it cost more Red mana.
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Your new prescription eyeglasses don’t work. You still can’t see things my way.
I would have revised or removed Cohort. I appreciate that they wanted to give Allies a strategy beyond "drop and attack", but after making Allies more inclusive with Rally (still requires Allies to trigger but now benefits any or all of your creatures, not just Allies), they went straight back to "play this with Allies or GTFO" and put the ability in the three colors most inclined toward aggro.
Converge, I dearly wished they'd thought of for Conflux as a replacement for Domain. Converge would have worked better with the Trilands, Obelisks, and Borderposts.
MTGS Wikia Article about "New World Order"
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
PSA to everyone who keeps forgetting about the Reserved List:
You're on a website dedicated to talking about MtG. You're only a few keystrokes away from finding out what cards are on the Reserved List. You're also only a few keystrokes away from finding out why some cards on the Reserved List got foil printings in FtV, as Judge promos, or whatnot, as well as why that won't happen again. Stop doing this.
I would have introduce the colorless C symbol in BFZ before OTG.
I would have made the Eldrazi types more coherent and less random feeling.
I would not have considered Devoid a "Mechanic", as its almost like colored artifacts. Sure it's new, but it hardly changes anything in the way that other mechanics do.
I would have elmininated a lot of the exile based strategies with the Eldrazi, the Processors seemed pretty random and useless. Even in limited they were weak.
I would have done the entire story of Shadows of Innistrad before returning to Zendikar. Emrakul's arrival would have been a huge shock, instead of a predictable continuation. Kozilek's emergence in Oath would also have been more of a surprise, since we wouldn't be assuming that he was still around after we'd seen Emrakul on another plane.
I also would have had the Gatewatch lose against the Eldrazi and be forced to retreat. Show us that they mean business, totally obliterate one of their most popular settings for the sake of the larger story.
Considering that RotE is the most criticized set of Zendikar and that fans hated how they pulled focus from the Adventure world feel in the first place, having them destroy Zendikar would have been a terrible idea. And having Gatewatch lose after just forming would be a disappointing first step. I say the Eldrazi shouldn't have been introduced on Zendikar in the first place; Innistrad would have been the perfect launching point for cosmic horror monsters. Maybe the Eye of Ugin should have been just one of three locks on the Eldrazi; the other two could have been located on Innistrad and Tarkir, creating a sense of suspense as the Eldrazi's release draws dangerously closer (culimnating in the final lock being released on Innistrad, cue EMN).
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MTGS Wikia Article about "New World Order"
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
PSA to everyone who keeps forgetting about the Reserved List:
You're on a website dedicated to talking about MtG. You're only a few keystrokes away from finding out what cards are on the Reserved List. You're also only a few keystrokes away from finding out why some cards on the Reserved List got foil printings in FtV, as Judge promos, or whatnot, as well as why that won't happen again. Stop doing this.
I would have introduced colorless mana sooner and tried to make cards with devoid have generic hybrid {2/W} or colorless hybrid {C/W} mana costs, or at the very least have abilities that cost or produce colorless mana.
I don't think "random legendary creatures" is the way to solve BFZ/OGW. Original Zendikar block has 15. New Zendikar block, which is just over half the size, has 13. What you've posted look fine, but my greatest gripe is that none of them except for Valakut Flamekeepers feel legendary.
My actual complaints are as follows. Note: a lot of these pwere also brought up in MaRo's Drive to Work episode on BFZ.
Have a more plot that's more "adventure-feeling." Zendikar wasn't a block about war, it was a block about exploring. Have the Gatewatch and friends go plumb the depths of the plane to find the MacGuffin of the Week to seal away the Eldrazi, all the while avoiding drones and scions and such.
Remove devoid. It's a mechanic that doesn't do anything, and people expect their mechanics to actually do something. Just have the "this card is colorless" bit spelled out in the rules text.
Remove cohort. None of its cards were Constructed-viable, and it flew in the face of what Allies wanted to do. Keep rally through OGW.
Add a few more white Eldrazi. Eldrazi Displacer was neat on how it took white mana and interpreted it as born by an Eldrazi, but it feels weird for there to not be any others.
Introduce the C symbol in BFZ, not OGW. There's something really aesthetically awful about having half of the block use 1 and the other using C.
Ingest and processors were underwhelming, and processing was a flavor fail. (Why are you getting back the processed cards if the flavor makes them vanish for good?) Beef up ingest a bit more, and drop processors to instead have Eldrazi that care about number of cards in exile.
Push support a bit more for Constructed. I remember it took the place of a mechanic that interacted with planeswalkers very late in development, but we got something very conservative and boring as a result.
Ditch the 2HG theme for OGW and make surge just trigger on your own spells. I get what they were trying to do, but I don't think that design space should be explored in Standard. Save it for supplemental sets like Conspiracy.
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EDH/Commander
(W/U)(W/U)Raff Capashen, Ship's Mage: The New da Vinci (historic control)
(W/B)(W/B)Teysa Karlov: Death Be Not Kind (aristocrats)
(R/G)(R/G)Hallar, the Firefletcher: Yavimaya Burning (kicker and counters)
(B/G)(G/U)Sidisi, Brood Tyrant: Queen of the Damned (dredge)
Maybe Build
(W/U)(U/B)Aminatou, the Fateshifter: And a Child Shall Lead Them (superfriends)
Why were some non-Eldrazi cards in BFZ Allies but others weren't?
I think it was more or less the idea that the allies were a specific team or team of people, while cards like Elementals and such were technically against the Eldrazi, and would likely help the allies, but didn't fit mechanically as well together. This didn't bother me really. I thought the Allies were actually done fairy well compared to their original showing (Except for Cohort, which I thought was terrible).
Expanding on the Original Post: I made some multicolored Eldrazi cards to "round out" the strategies that were kind of "missing" their final touch to make them more coherent. I'll see if I can dredge up the thread, but it was awhile ago.
What would I change? I would redesign Gideon, Ally of Zendikar. In order to include the moment where he punched an Eldrazi.
Gideon, Ally of Zendikar2RW Planeswalker - Gideon (MR) +1: Until end of turn, Gideon, Ally of Zendikar becomes a 5/5 Human Soldier Ally Creature with indestructible that's still a planeswalker. Prevent all damage that would be dealt to him this turn. 0: Put a 2/2 white Knight Ally creature token onto the battlefield. -4: Gideon, Ally of Zendikar deals 7 damage to target Eldrazi creature. [4]
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For example, my takeaway was that BFZ would have benefitted from having more random legendary creatures, like original Zendikar, so I designed a few legendary creatures that seemed like they would be fun to play with (the names come from flavor text in original Zendikar). I don't have much so far so I'd love to see what designs other people have for this idea.
Valakut Flamekeepers 3RR
Legendary Creature - Human Shaman {R}
If another red source you control would deal damage to a permanent or player, you may discard a card. If you do, it deals that much damage plus 3 to that permanent or player instead.
3/4
Sole Survivor UB
Legendary Creature - Kor Warrior {R}
As long as you control exactly one creature, that creature gets +2/+0 and can't be blocked.
2/2
Nirthu, Lone Missionary 3G
Legendary Creature - Elf Shaman {R}
Whenever one or more +1/+1 counters are put on a creature you control, look at the top card of your library. If it's a land card, you may put it onto the battlefield.
3/3
Yon Basrel, Minotaur Pathfinder RR
Legendary Creature - Minotaur Advisor {R}
Haste
Whenever Minotaur Pathfinder attacks, defending player reveals the top card of his or her library. If it's a land card, that player puts it into his or her hand.
3/3
Sheyda, Bringer of Flames 2RR
Legendary Creature - Elemental {R}
When Sandruu, Bringer of Flames enters the battlefield, it deals X damage to target creature or player, where X is the number of instant and sorcery cards in your graveyard.
2/2
Samila of the Expedition GG
Legendary Creature - Elf Scout {R}
If you would search your library for a land card, instead search your library for a land card and an additional card that shares a type with it, then put them both into your hand. Then shuffle your library.
2/2
Sheyda, Bringer of Flames seems too strong to be printed in a Standard set. If this were to printed I would imagine them saying "deals X damage to target creature or planeswalker" or at least at the bare minimum it should have more red mana in the casting cost.
UBRKess, Dissident MageUBR - Controlling Dissidents
GRhonas the IndomitableG - Indomitable Four Drops
WUBOloro, Ageless AsceticWUB - Loot & Renanimate
Converge, I dearly wished they'd thought of for Conflux as a replacement for Domain. Converge would have worked better with the Trilands, Obelisks, and Borderposts.
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
Reality Hemorrhage 1R
C Sorcery
(This card has no color.)
~ deals 2 damage to target creature or player.
I would also reintroduce traps, re-flavored as weapons to fight the eldrazi.
I would have made the Eldrazi types more coherent and less random feeling.
I would not have considered Devoid a "Mechanic", as its almost like colored artifacts. Sure it's new, but it hardly changes anything in the way that other mechanics do.
I would have elmininated a lot of the exile based strategies with the Eldrazi, the Processors seemed pretty random and useless. Even in limited they were weak.
Dunes of Zairo
SHANDALAR
Innistrad - The Darkest Night
~THE RAVNICAN CONSORTIUM~
A Community Set
Commander: Allies & Adversaries
I also would have had the Gatewatch lose against the Eldrazi and be forced to retreat. Show us that they mean business, totally obliterate one of their most popular settings for the sake of the larger story.
Every time I read a comment about "Well if this card had card draw/trample/haste/indestructible/hexproof/life gain...", I think "You're missing the point." They're armchair developer comments that fail to take into account the card's role in the greater Limited and Standard environment. No, it may not be as good as whatever card you're comparing it to. There's a reason for that. Not every burn spell is Lightning Bolt, nor does it need to be or should be.
My actual complaints are as follows. Note: a lot of these pwere also brought up in MaRo's Drive to Work episode on BFZ.
I think it was more or less the idea that the allies were a specific team or team of people, while cards like Elementals and such were technically against the Eldrazi, and would likely help the allies, but didn't fit mechanically as well together. This didn't bother me really. I thought the Allies were actually done fairy well compared to their original showing (Except for Cohort, which I thought was terrible).
Expanding on the Original Post: I made some multicolored Eldrazi cards to "round out" the strategies that were kind of "missing" their final touch to make them more coherent. I'll see if I can dredge up the thread, but it was awhile ago.
Dunes of Zairo
SHANDALAR
Innistrad - The Darkest Night
~THE RAVNICAN CONSORTIUM~
A Community Set
Commander: Allies & Adversaries
Planeswalker - Gideon (MR)
+1: Until end of turn, Gideon, Ally of Zendikar becomes a 5/5 Human Soldier Ally Creature with indestructible that's still a planeswalker. Prevent all damage that would be dealt to him this turn.
0: Put a 2/2 white Knight Ally creature token onto the battlefield.
-4: Gideon, Ally of Zendikar deals 7 damage to target Eldrazi creature.
[4]